High Drama on Capitol Hill in Trump Nominee Hearings
Tempers flared as President Trump's Cabinet choices faced committee votes.
— -- Tempers flared on Capitol Hill Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s Cabinet choices faced Senate committee votes.
During a tense moment in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, accused Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of distorting his words following Sen. Jeff Sessions’ hearing for attorney general in January.
Cruz’s Texas colleague, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, jumped in to defend Cruz, who wasn’t present.
“I object to disparaging a colleague on this committee, and especially in his absence. It’s untoward and I object,” said Cornyn.
“Sen. Cruz misrepresented what happened. I’d like to take the opportunity to set the record straight,” said Franken.
Franken went on to lambast Republicans on the committee for moving forward with a vote on Sessions, R-Alabama.
Sessions came under fire for his record on civil rights from Democrats, who accused the senator of being weak on defending civil rights, a record Republicans and Sessions vehemently defended.
The committee voted along party lines, 11-9, with every Democrat voting ‘nay.’ But the exchange between Franken and Cornyn set the tone for a day of tension along party lines on Capitol Hill.
In the Senate Finance Committee, Democrats showed no sign of ending their boycott of committee votes on the nominations for Trump’s choice for health and human services secretary, Tom Price, or Treasury secretary pick, Steve Mnuchin.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, sent a letter to committee Chairman Orrin Hatch insisting that both Price and Mnuchin send “complete, accurate responses” to committee questionnaires. But Republicans, led by Hatch, were not interested in entertaining Democrats' boycott. Hatch convened the Senate Finance Committee for a vote at 9:30 a.m. and suspended committee rules requiring at least one Democrat to be present.
Hatch argued he was giving the Democrats a taste of their own medicine, calling the boycott a “cheap political ploy.”
“Rather than accept anything less than their desired outcome, our Democrat colleagues chose to cower in the hallway and hold a press conference,” Hatch said. “The decision to boycott yesterday's meeting was not conveyed to anyone on our side until literally seconds before we were scheduled to begin. And the decision wasn't even conveyed to us by the ranking member in person.”
Wyden said in an interview with MSNBC he did not hear about the decision to hold committee votes until after he left a morning meeting.
“It seems to me that the basic proposition of breaking the rules so that you can in effect look the other way in the face of strong evidence, serious ethical problems for two nominees is exceptionally troubling,” he said on MSNBC.
Republicans used the power of their majority to vote 14-0 with no Democrats present to move Price and Mnuchin out of committee and toward a Senate floor confirmation vote, possibly later this week.
Trump’s other Cabinet choices face committee votes Wednesday, including Mick Mulvaney for Office of Management and Budget director and David Shulkin for secretary of veterans affairs.
Democrats continued to boycott hearings, skipping out on Scott Pruitt's hearing for Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
Despite the drama, one Trump Cabinet position could be filled by the end of the day.
Rex Tillerson, nominee for secretary of state, will get votes on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon. While he only needs the majority Republican votes to be confirmed, a few Democrats have said they will be voting to confirm Tillerson, including Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota, and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.
Still, in the wake of fallout from Trump’s immigration executive order, the show might go on as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has vowed to stall Tillerson’s nomination until he provides answers about Trump’s controversial order.
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